RTE star Daithi O Se has told how he desperately tried to resuscitate his father before he died in his arms from a heart attack.

The Rose of Tralee presenter’s dad Maidhc Dainin passed away last week at home in Ballydavid, Co Kerry, aged 71.

But Daithi has been consoled by the fact that hours earlier his dad was happy after finding out the 36-year-old host would survive his battle with lung cancer.

He said: “The way I look at it, my father got great news the night before he passed away. So therefore he was in great form and therefore he slept great for the first time in a long time.

“So my father died happy. He died in my arms.

“He didn’t shout or roar or make any sound that he was in pain when he was dying. He just went.

“I find great solace that my father died in front of me and my mother and I was holding him.”

The Today star had taken Maidhc Dainin, a well-known musician and prolific Irish writer, for a few pints to celebrate the good news but was later woken by his mum Caitlin calling to say something was wrong.

And Daithi could only watch as his dad took his final breaths on Thursday but was unsure – unlike with his TV day job – what to do. He added: “[Maidhc Dainin] was slouched in the chair and trying to draw his breath.

“He pulled maybe 10 or 15 breaths after that, very slow. My father was cold there. Within about 40 seconds, I saw death coming over him. We put him down on the ground and I was doing CPR and mouth-to-mouth and trying to get him back but I could see it leaving him.

“My mother was holding his hand. I said. ‘Mam, I think he’s gone.’ That was the hardest thing I ever had to say to my mother.

“She said, ‘He can’t be gone.’ To hear your mother say that is heartbreaking but I knew it in my heart and soul that he was gone.

“I was thinking, ‘My father’s dead there in front of me. What happens next?’

“Something has to happen. There isn’t a producer.

“There isn’t somebody telling me in my ear, ‘OK do this now...’ It is like doing a live show with no producer. So I was wondering do I call the undertaker or the priest first?”

And Daithi said while he’s grieving now, the good memories will soon take over.